The First Halloween
by ThrowDownTheKey
Summary: The first Halloween Angel and Mimi spent together, and Mimi's got some rather depressing news. Luckily, her friend Liz is there to help her out. BTW: Mimi told Angel already. This takes place PRE-RENT


**Hello! So this is for my fabulous aunt Liz! I love her to death, and sometimes it feels like she's the only one I can talk to. I love you so much! Not my finest story, but oh well. Bit angsty, but it gets better, I promise. :) **

"Mimi, you ready?" Angel called.

"Don't you mean, Marilyn?" Mimi smiled and walked out of her bedroom. She was wearing the famous Marilyn Monroe white dress, along with one of Angel's blonde wigs and pearl pumps.

"You look fabulous, darling," Angel grinned. She was dressed as Cher.

"What about Liz?" Mimi asked. "Are we picking her up?"

"No," Angel picked up her purse. "I think she's meeting us there."

The two girls headed down to the Life Cafe, not even noticing the cold wind that whipped around them. When they got to the cafe, they headed straight for the bar. After ordering two Vodka-cranberries, Angel said, "I think Halloween is my favorite holiday."

"What?!" Mimi laughed. "What about Christmas!"

"Well, Christmas always seems to be a disappointment. I like Christmas Eve much better."

Mimi sipped her drink, "And why's that?"

"Because the days leading up to Christmas are so much more… I don't know, magical. All the excitement that leads up to the day, plus all of its expectations, just make Christmas all the more disappointing," Angel reasoned.

"Maybe…" Mimi sighed. "I guess you're right. Now where's Liz? She's never late."

Just then, the door swung open. In walked Liz.

Angel shrieked, "You cut your hair!"

Liz nodded, sitting down on the stool next to Mimi. Running her hand through her hair, she smiled. "Happy Halloween, ladies."

Mimi loved Liz. She was one of her closest friends, second only to Angel. Elizabeth, her real name, really didn't suit her at all. Crazy beautiful and wild, but a little older than Mimi. She seemed to always have amazing advice, and a truly contagious laugh. "How's life?" she asked, her chestnut eyes sparkling.

"Good…" Mimi pondered.

"Angel?" Liz asked, the question directed at the drag queen.

Angel sighed, "It's been okay…"

"Oh come on, Ang. I know you better than that. What's behind the 'okay?'" Liz smiled.

"Jason being a bit needy," she confessed.

Mimi interrupted suddenly, "I have AIDS."

"What… Mimi…" Liz was dumbfounded, yet not surprised. Deep down, she had known Mimi had started using again. The signs were all there. "How long…" she started to ask.

"I just found out this week…" Mimi started to cry. Mimi Marquez was a strong girl, and had never cried in front of anyone but Angel. "I probably don't have much longer," she held back tears. "I can't even afford AZT-" she started to say.

"Oh honey," Liz pulled the Latina into a tight hug. "Don't worry, I promise it's going to be okay. Okay? Look at me," Mimi's eyes met hers. "I promise, you're going to be okay."

Angel had never once been selfish. She was always giving everything to someone who needed it more. But in this case, she couldn't give Mimi what she needed. Angel hated the thought that Mimi, her Mimi, now had the same death sentence as her. Angel wanted to give her hope, but right now, she couldn't. Anything and everything Angel said just made Mimi more depressed. Mimi didn't want to go to Life Support, didn't want to go to doctor's visits, all because she didn't want to believe she had it. She didn't want to accept the fact that she had AIDS. That her life could be more than half over.

"Hey," Mimi sniffled, drying her eyes with a napkin. "I don't want to ruin Halloween. How… How are things with you, E-Liz?" she smiled, using the nickname they gave Liz after finding out how good she was with designing internet pages.

"Okay," Liz said gently. "You sure you don't want to go home?"

Mimi nodded, then yelled at the bartender, "I need three kinky pink drinks over here!"

Liz and Angel laughed. "So, I heard you're an aunt now!" Angel said to Liz.

"Yeah, she's adorable," Liz grinned, pulling out a baby photo from her purse.

"Got a boyfriend, yet?" Mimi asked.

Laughing, Liz continued, "No. I don't really need a man in my life right now. I've got my girls," she wrapped an arm around Mimi. "Well," she glanced at the clock, "I've got a party to hit, want to join?"

Mimi shook her head, "No, I think I'm good. But you have fun, is it a costume party?"

"Yeah, but I don't think anyone's going to dress up. I don't want to be that one girl that goes all out in a costume by herself. It's safer to go as is, I think," she flashed her dazzling teeth in a smile.

Angel nodded in agreement. Before she left, Liz slipped some dollar bills to Angel. "Take care of Mimi, for me. Will you?" she whispered.

"Of course, thank you," Angel whispered back. Frankly, the drag queen was amazed. Liz could barely pay her own rent, yet she was giving Mimi money. It was one of the things Angel admired most about Liz. She was always caring for others, knowing someone always had it worse, always looking on the bright side.

"You're going to be an amazing aunt," Mimi told Liz as she was heading out.

"I am going to tell her all about you two," she smiled. "Happy Halloween, honey," she kissed Mimi on the cheek. Throwing a wave, she walked out of the bar.

Mark stopped filming. He was sitting in the corner booth, alone with his camera. Roger, Collins, and Maureen were meeting him there later. In the meantime, he had been filming the three girls sitting at the bar. Not in a creepy way, mind you. He just found them fascinating. "That right there," he had said when he saw one girl slip money, supposedly for the thin Latina who had been crying, into the drag queen's hand, "is the meaning of friendship."

XOXO

"Mark," Mimi called the filmmaker. She held up a tape. "When did you do this?"

"Let's see," Mark came and sat with the dancer, looking at the tape's label. "Well, looks like last Halloween. Want to watch it?"

Mimi nodded, "I want to see what Roger looked like last year. Was his hair shorter?"

Mark laughed and pushed the tape into the television. The square of film flickered out of focus for a second before focusing on the bar. Three girls were sitting together. One of them was crying, and the other two were comforting her. Not ten minutes later, the girls were laughing and swooning over a picture.

"Mark…. That's me," Mimi said softly.

"What?" he asked.

"That's me," Mimi pointed to the girl sitting in the middle. "And that's Angel. I remember her wearing that dress."

"But that doesn't look like you. When did you have blonde hair?"

"It was Halloween, I was wearing a wig," she ruffled the filmmaker's hair.

"Who's the girl next to Angel?" Mark asked.

"That's Liz," Mimi answered. "I think she lives in Harlem now."

"She looks cool," Mark said.

"Yeah. That was the first Halloween Angel and I celebrated together. I can't believe you guys were at the same bar as us, on the same night!" Mimi said excitedly.

"Weird we didn't see each other. If we had met that night, I wonder if things would be different," Mark said.

"I wouldn't change the way things are now for anything," Mimi smiled and hugged Mark.


End file.
